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Does the Xbox 360 upconvert DVDs to HD?

Pretty quick question - just wondering if I should be getting an upconverting DVD player with my new HDTV (only 720p) or if the 360's DVD playback upconverts the video. I haven't gotten the 360 yet, so if it depends on the model I should be getting the most recent version (probably a Pro).

KalTorak on November 2008

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There is a mixed opinion on this, believe it or not. People swear up and down that DVDs look TERRIBLE on the 360, and those that think DVDs look fine (if not, better) on the 360. At least, that's what I can tell.

I play DVDs on my 360 all the time, and they look much better than my regular DVD player on the same exact TV. But I don't think it's upconverting it.

The 360 will upscale DVDs if you're using the HDMI out. It won't do it over component.

And I'm one of the contingent that thinks the 360 is a terrible DVD player. Video quality is muddy and noise is accentuated as compared to my 10 year old Sony DVD player. The PS3, by way of comparison, is pretty good.

HD-DVDs on the 360 always looked good, though.

Maddie: "I named my feet. The left one is flip and the right one is flop. Oh, and also I named my flip-flops."

There is a mixed opinion on this, believe it or not. People swear up and down that DVDs look TERRIBLE on the 360, and those that think DVDs look fine (if not, better) on the 360. At least, that's what I can tell.

I play DVDs on my 360 all the time, and they look much better than my regular DVD player on the same exact TV. But I don't think it's upconverting it.

It was absolutely horrible when it was launched, but they've had a few updates that improved it since then and now its not that bad imho

Hmmm... well I'll definitely be using the HDMI out. I think for now the plan will be to just use the 360 and see how it goes. If it turns out to be unwatchable (I'm not that picky) then I'll pick up a budget upconverting DVD player. If not then I'll wait a year or so for the prices on Blu-rays to come down a bit.

My experiences are from about six months ago, so it may have improved since then. It wasn't unwatchably bad even then - I mean, not like watching broadcast TV, or anything - and on really good DVDs it wasn't that bad. The test of a good DVD player, though, is with non-really-good DVDs, and on those it didn't fare well. The PS3 has been much better to me.

As to BD prices, one of Amazon's upcoming Stupidly Low Price Vote Thingies has a Sony BD player for $100 as an option. It's currently trailing by a wide margin to an HDTV offer, but who knows?

Maddie: "I named my feet. The left one is flip and the right one is flop. Oh, and also I named my flip-flops."

I watch movies on my 360 all the time, actually that's about all I use it for any more (that and a media center pc). The movies look good on my 32in LCD (1080i). The 360 puts out the DVDs to 480p and it looks good, sure not as good as a regular HD move or Cable but I really don't have a problem with it at all. Also with the NXE and the Netflix streaming it's really become a nice Media Center PC

The 360 will upscale DVDs if you're using the HDMI out. It won't do it over component.

And I'm one of the contingent that thinks the 360 is a terrible DVD player. Video quality is muddy and noise is accentuated as compared to my 10 year old Sony DVD player. The PS3, by way of comparison, is pretty good.

HD-DVDs on the 360 always looked good, though.

I should point out, the 360 will also upscale DVD's through the VGA cable.

As for quality, the colors are more dulled through the 360, but I've noticed more artifacting with the PS3 upscaler.

Actually I've had an RRoD and a DRE error. So I know your pain, but the RRoD problem is only a problem if you don't have the latest 360 model. Saying that by playing DVDs instead of games is going to increase your chances of a RRoD is asinine.

Saying that by playing DVDs instead of games is going to increase your chances of a RRoD is asinine.

He didn't say watching DVDs on a 360 instead of playing games on it would make it RROD, he asked why you'd use a 360 for DVDs instead of games when --regardless of whether your activity is gaming or watching movies or looking at your console funny-- the 360 is prone to failure.

360s seem to have a finite lifespan. My launch 360 hasn't failed yet but I'm sure not going to waste whatever precious life it has left by watching DVDs on it when I have a million devices that play DVDs and one device that plays 360 games.

Saying that by playing DVDs instead of games is going to increase your chances of a RRoD is asinine.

He didn't say watching DVDs on a 360 instead of playing games on it would make it RROD, he asked why you'd use a 360 for DVDs instead of games when --regardless of whether your activity is gaming or watching movies or looking at your console funny-- the 360 is prone to failure.

360s seem to have a finite lifespan. My launch 360 hasn't failed yet but I'm sure not going to waste whatever precious life it has left by watching DVDs on it when I have a million devices that play DVDs and one device that plays 360 games.

Exactly. I prefer to use it only for what I need it for (playing games) so as to reduce the amount of time the system spends running. So if I could be leaving it off by using a $30 DVD player instead, I'm going to do that. Sure, it's under warranty and all, but being without your console for several weeks is kind of a pain.

Saying that by playing DVDs instead of games is going to increase your chances of a RRoD is asinine.

He didn't say watching DVDs on a 360 instead of playing games on it would make it RROD, he asked why you'd use a 360 for DVDs instead of games when --regardless of whether your activity is gaming or watching movies or looking at your console funny-- the 360 is prone to failure.

360s seem to have a finite lifespan. My launch 360 hasn't failed yet but I'm sure not going to waste whatever precious life it has left by watching DVDs on it when I have a million devices that play DVDs and one device that plays 360 games.

I really don't think 360s have a finite lifespan that you subtract from every time you power it on. I think that, at worst, some systems are fatally flawed and some aren't. The latter will play nigh-forever without issue. The former will likely eat themselves at some point. Those, however, are a small minority.

Maddie: "I named my feet. The left one is flip and the right one is flop. Oh, and also I named my flip-flops."

Wear may or may not be a factor. Aren't these issues usually caused by overheating? In any case, it doesn't hurt me to just use a DVD player, so why take any chance on the matter?

Edit:

The real reason for the 3 red lights of failure is a result of long term heat of the CPU and the GPU against the motherboard that caused it to “bow” or “warp”. This warping issue causes the lead-free solders that were used to mount the motherboard to have lots of tension on them. After it too having long exposure to elevated temperatures, the solders become brittle and develop hair-line cracks that are almost irreparable.

I really don't think 360s have a finite lifespan that you subtract from every time you power it on. I think that, at worst, some systems are fatally flawed and some aren't. The latter will play nigh-forever without issue. The former will likely eat themselves at some point. Those, however, are a small minority.

*shrugs* I've seen way too many of my friends 360s fail to think otherwise. They all worked great --until one day they just didn't.

Wear may or may not be a factor. Aren't these issues usually caused by overheating? In any case, it doesn't hurt me to just use a DVD player, so why take any chance on the matter?

Edit:

The real reason for the 3 red lights of failure is a result of long term heat of the CPU and the GPU against the motherboard that caused it to â€œbowâ€ or â€œwarpâ€. This warping issue causes the lead-free solders that were used to mount the motherboard to have lots of tension on them. After it too having long exposure to elevated temperatures, the solders become brittle and develop hair-line cracks that are almost irreparable.

On the component cables the 360 can upscale to 480p, through the HDMI & VGA it can do up to 1080i. The problem is that the 360 is a really low grade DVD player. Originally it only got a 20 on the HQV test. MS then worked hard and doubled that to 40, out of the total 130.